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Archiver > TMG > 2001-01 > 0978342468


From: Ida Skarson McCormick <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] Birth Sentence Troubles
Date: Mon, 01 Jan 2001 01:47:48 -0800
In-Reply-To: <3A4EAC53.55549194@ix.netcom.com>


In following this thread it occurred to me to ask whether there is an
estimated date of birth based on the known events in John Brown's
life. Estimating the date would certainly make the narrative read better,
especially for someone who plays a key part in the descendancy.

I make it a policy to have at least an estimated date of birth for every
person in my database. As I stated in my recent post to TMG-L on
"composite/analysis date source" (12/26/00), it is not necessary to have
any one source that expresses a full date (or even a precise year) of
birth. The "composite/analysis date" will do very nicely followed by a
discussion of how one arrives at that date. This discussion might be in
the text or in multiple endnotes.

For example, in the case of those who are baptismal sponsors, I give them
an estimated year of birth (usually rounded to a final zero or final 5),
based on the infant's parents' known ages. The date may be off by 20+
years, but it's a ballpark.

--Ida Skarson McCormick, , Seattle

At 07:47 PM 12/30/2000 -0800, Diana Powell wrote:
>I have a person whose date of birth I do not know. I would like to
>create a sentence that reads "John Brown's date of birth is not known".
<snip>

This thread: